The Ultimate Bargains Quiz

Can you talk the talk, walk the walk and get the best deals on everything from tires to lobster? Answer these questions to see how bargain-savvy you are.

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Question 1 of 16

A recent survey by the American Survey Group found that what percentage of American consumers had recently bargained for retail goods?

17 percent

36 percent

54 percent

72 percent

Of the 72 percent of American who haggled, 80 percent were successful -- so don't be afraid to give it a shot!

Question 2 of 16

What three factors are most likely to make a seller discount an item?

personality, trustworthiness and tenacity

price, margin and utility

supply, demand and deadline

Look for items or services that are about to expire and that sellers are having difficulty moving.

aggressiveness, cheapness and threats

Question 3 of 16

Which of the following would you be LEAST likely to haggle successfully for?

cereal

Cereal has a long shelf life, only small variation in price between stores and a relatively tight margin.

refrigerator

lobster

car tires

Question 4 of 16

Which of the following tech companies has seen the highest increase in stock price since its initial public offering (IPO)?

Apple

Microsoft

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems has increased its stock price an average of 10,000 percent per year, clocking almost 100,000 percent its IPO price at its peak to date.

Intel

Question 5 of 16

What haggling techniques can you use when shopping for jewelry?

comparison shopping

bundling items

store discount cards

all of the above

Remember, all is fair in love and war. Haggling is more like the latter, but in a nice way.

Question 6 of 16

Which grocery items are you most likely to be able to bargain down the price on?

coffee filters

baked goods

Because baked good have a limited shelflife, the seller is working against a deadline. When the deadline nears, it's time to play "Let's Make a Deal."

raisins

canned soup

Question 7 of 16

Which of the following baseball players is considered one of the all-time best draft deals?

Mickey Mantle

Ken Griffey Jr.

Jose Conseco

Mike Piazza

Mike Piazza was chosen 1,390th in the 1986 draft, due mostly to his father's connection with Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda.

Question 8 of 16

In 2004, Peter Thiel invested $500,000 in Facebook. How much is Thiel worth today?

$200 million

$500 million

$1 billion

$1.4 billion

His "angel investment" was the first money invested in the company.

Question 9 of 16

Which was among the best investments of the United States government?

the Louisiana Purchase

The U.S. paid France $15 million for the 828,800 square miles of land that are now the majority of the Midwestern United States.

the moon landing

the Bay of Pigs

Microsoft

Question 10 of 16

Which of the following is most comparable to a high-risk, high-reward investment?

converting dollars to yuan

buying a lottery ticket

While you'll almost certainly lose your $1 or $2 investment, it has the outside chance of returning millions.

putting money in a stock index fund

burying gold bullion in the backyard

Question 11 of 16

Which of the following domain names sold for the most at auction?

AsSeenOnTV.com

Fund.com

While Fund.com sold for $9.9 million in 2008, the others also brought some high prices: AsSeenOnTV.com ($5.1 million in 2000), Beer.com ($7 million in 2007) and Porn.com ($9.5 million in 2007).

Beer.com

Porn.com

Question 12 of 16

Generally, will you get better deals on luxury or economy items in times of economic slowdown?

luxury

In hard economic times, fewer people can afford luxury goods (just ask Whole Foods), and so the laws of supply and demand mean that lower prices can be found on luxury items when the economy slumps.

economy

Question 13 of 16

Which of the following industries commonly does your haggling for you?

oil and gas

venture capital

education

health insurance

The health insurance industry haggles with hospitals to reduce medical costs. If you don't have insurance, consider doing the haggling yourself.

Question 14 of 16

Most of the following items require similar bargaining strategies. Which one is most different?

hotel rooms

cruise tickets

apartment rental

lobster

Most are items or services that have the danger of standing vacant, and which also cost very little to add a customer -- meaning that sellers might be willing to take something rather than nothing. Lobster is a commodity best negotiated by trying to cut through resellers to get close to the source.

Question 15 of 16

What is one technique that experts recommend when haggling on a big-ticket item comes to an impasse?

Tell the salesperson that money talks and money walks.

Threaten to load the comment box with hate mail.

Refuse the salesperson's card, but leave one of your own.

While crying might work, the most correct answer is to refuse the salesperson's card while offering one of your own. Leave amicably, leaving the door open for the salesperson to call if anything changes.

Cry.

Question 16 of 16

Which of the following can make conditions ripe for a great deal?

difference in information between buyer and seller

an unexplored frontier

a resource that seemed unlimited but is actually scarce

all of the above

If you know things the seller doesn't, maybe including the value of resources, you're in the right position to discover diamond-in-the-rough deals. For example, think comic books at a garage sale, gasoline in the early 20th century or the electromagnetic spectrum.